Socialism

Learning From Lenin Today

January 24, 2024 Abiodun Olamosu, Black Agenda Report. Strategize! Lenin, Nigeria, Political Education, Socialism

Not long after I joined the socialist movement as a student at the Polytechnic of Ibadan in 1980, I was introduced to Marxist literature at the Progressive and Socialist Bookshop which was the sole depot of many left-wing publishers from UK, USSR and China that included Zed Books. By the time I entered university as a mature student, I had already worked as a full-time revolutionary assisting Ola Oni, a foremost Marxist revolutionary and scholar at the University of Ibadan where he lectured. He also owned the bookshop. My generation were inspired by the history of Russia, the only country that achieved a successful socialist revolution in October 1917.

The Forgotten Socialist History Of Martin Luther King Jr.

January 15, 2024 Matthew Miles Goodrich, In These Times. Strategize! History, Martin Luther King Jr, MLK, Socialism

In 1952 a 23-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a love letter to Coretta Scott. Along with coos of affection and apologies for his hasty handwriting, he described his feelings not just toward his future wife, but also toward America’s economic system. “I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic,” he admitted to his then-girlfriend, concluding that “capitalism has outlived its usefulness.” King composed these words as a grad student on the tail end of his first year at the Boston University School of Theology. And far from representing just the utopianism of youth, the views expressed in the letter would go on to inform King’s economic vision throughout his life.

Talking Socialism On The Job

January 7, 2024 Garrett Brown, Against the Current. Strategize! History, Labor Movement, Socialism, Worker Rights and Jobs

With a new generation of socialist activists entering the workforce to build unions and the socialist movement, experiences from 45 years ago may provide lessons about what works and what does not work when talking socialism on the job. I joined the Young Socialist Alliance in 1971 and the Socialist Workers Party in 1973, resigning from the party in December 1983. I was a student activist in California, Massachusetts, and Illinois, before becoming the labor reporter for The Daily Calumet newspaper in southeast Chicago in 1976. While a journalist at The Daily Calumet I covered the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) and Ed Sadlowski’s campaign for union president in 1976-77.

World’s Economic Centre Of Gravity Is Returning To Asia

December 29, 2023 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Asia, China, Depression, Global Economy, Inflation, Socialism

In October 2023, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published its annual Trade and Development Report. Nothing in the report came as a major surprise. The growth of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to decline with no sign of a rebound. Following a modest post-pandemic recovery of 6.1% in 2021, economic growth in 2023 fell to 2.4%, below pre-pandemic levels, and is projected to remain at 2.5% in 2024. The global economy, UNCTAD says, is ‘flying at “stall speed”’, with all conventional indicators showing that most of the world is experiencing a recession.

Vermont’s New AFL-CIO President Is A Democratic Socialist, Labor Reformer

December 27, 2023 Steve Early, Portside. Organize! AFL-CIO, Democratic Party, Elections, Socialism, Vermont, Worker Rights and Jobs

Unlike some local and national unions, the AFL-CIO’s state and local bodies rarely hold contested leadership elections with opposing slates offering alternative strategies for reviving the labor movement. Yet in Vermont, there have been two such contests for the state federation in the last four years, both producing a mandate for change. In 2019, a group of local union officers and staff members created a reform slate called “Vermont AFL-CIO United!” Fourteen of its candidates got elected — taking all the top officer jobs and forming a majority on the state labor council’s executive board. Their goal was to revitalize a moribund organization through membership education, mobilization, and direct action, plus greater independence from the Democratic Party.

Contrasting Strategies Of The United States And China

December 26, 2023 Roger D, Harris, Popular Resistance. Educate! Capitalism, China, Foreign Policy, Socialism, United States, Wars and Militarism

In the latest salvo preparing the US for confrontation with China, Nicholas Burns flat out said, “I don’t feel optimistic about the future of US-China relations.” Burns should know. He is Washington’s ambassador to Beijing. The US stance on bilateral relations with China, according to Burns, is one of “strategic competition in the coming decades… vying for global power as well as regional power.” Indeed, the US is preparing for war with China. High-ranking US Airforce General Mike Minihan foresees war as early as 2025. This contrasts with the Chinese approach of cooperation for mutual benefit to solve the most pressing global problems.

Ajamu Baraka: Report Back From Peace Delegation To China

December 23, 2023 Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report. Educate! China, Global Security, Peace Delegation, Socialism

On the issue of Chinese diplomacy, it is important to note that the Chinese approach is a significant departure from the crisis oriented, zero-sum diplomacy that is characteristic of diplomacy emanating from the West. This was a particularly important element that we addressed in our discussions with members of Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, various specialists on China and in a meeting with representatives from the Chinese Communist Party. What is clear is that on the issue of diplomacy there is a fundamental divergence in core values. The principles articulated by President Xi Jinping reflected an approach to diplomacy.

Dilemmas Of Humanity Conference Concludes In Johannesburg

October 20, 2023 Luis De Jesus Reyes and Zoe Alexandra, People's Dispatch. Strategize! Dilemmas of Humanity, Palestine, Socialism, South Africa, US Imperialism

For almost two weeks now, an incessant rain of bombs has been falling on the Palestinian lands and people, who for 75 years have struggled against the Zionist settler-colonial project, under the indifferent gaze of the so-called “Western powers” and their governments. For more than 60 years, the Cuban people have been suffering from an economic, financial, and commercial blockade that has deprived them of achieving their full development, before the impotent gaze of a large part of the world that cannot – or does not dare – to challenge those responsible for that policy. Both realities are hard to digest, but they have similar origins: imperialism and the capitalist system.

Socialism Is Not Just A Possibility, It Is The Only Possibility

October 16, 2023 Zoe Alexandra, People's Dispatch. Organize! Dilemmas of Humanity, Johannesburg, Social Movements, Socialism, South Africa

What does socialism and building socialism mean to the leaders of mass movements and left political parties from across the world? This question is at the center of the debates for the next several days at the III International Dilemmas of Humanity Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. Around 500 movement leaders, trade unionists, and members of left parties from more than 70 countries are partaking in the conference which will culminate on October 18, 2023. The conference is organized by the International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA) and hosted by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), Abahlali base Mjondolo, and the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party of South Africa.

Venezuela To Launch China-Backed Poverty Elimination Program

September 29, 2023 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuelanalysis. Create! China, Poverty, Socialism, Venezuela

Caracas, September 21, 2023 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government has announced a new social program focused on fighting poverty and inequality, which will be supported by China’s International Poverty Reduction Center. On Monday, during his weekly TV program, President Nicolás Maduro said that the “Social Equality and Happiness Mission” was “almost ready” to be launched and its main purpose is to “optimize the fight against inequality, against poverty and to build a more harmonious country.” Although Maduro did not give details, he stressed that the social program will work alongside the Chinese anti-poverty center.

Manifiesta 2023: 15,000 Voices Amplify Call For Solidarity And Hope

September 19, 2023 People's Dispatch. Organize! European Union (EU), Manifiesta, Socialism, Transformation

Approximately 15,000 people gathered in Ostend, Belgium, on September 9-10 for the latest edition of the solidarity festival Manifiesta. This year’s festival was an enormous success and featured additional programs designed to immerse visitors in the event. Music performances by Meteor and Axelle Red drew large crowds during the evenings, but so did Chris Smalls from the Amazon Labor Union, as he reminded listeners that the workers’ struggle is “a marathon, rather than a sprint.” The experience of building the Amazon Labor Union serves as a practical example of the possibility of creating a different world, a message that Manifiesta’s organizers are eager to convey in Belgium and on a global scale.

The Polycrisis Is The Singular Dilemma Of Humanity Called Capitalism

September 15, 2023 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Capitalism, Class Struggle, Polycrisis, Socialism

Dilemmas of humanity abound. There is little need to look at statistical data to know that we are in a spiral of crises, from the environmental and climate crisis to the crises of poverty and hunger. In 1993, the philosophers Edgar Morin and Anne-Brigitte Kern used the term ‘polycrisis’ in their book Terre-Patrie (‘Homeland Earth’). Morin and Kern argued that ‘there is no single vital problem, but many vital problems, and it is this complex intersolidarity of problems, antagonisms, crises, uncontrolled processes, and the general crisis of the planet that continues the number one vital problem’.

Why Democracy Is Not Possible Under Capitalism

September 14, 2023 People's Dispatch. Strategize! Atlanta, Capitalism, Democracy, Plutocracy, Socialism

In Atlanta, residents are using the existing democratic systems under capitalism to fight the construction of a multi-million dollar training ground for militarized police repression, and finding those systems lacking. Meanwhile, in socialist Cuba, the people and the government collaborated on formulating the world’s most progressive family code. Is it possible to have democracy under a capitalist system? Under a different economic system, such as socialism, what would democracy look like? Mariah Parker, Stop Cop City activist, labor organizer with the Union of Southern Service Workers, and rapper, spoke to over 300 attendees of the Dilemmas of Humanity: A Socialist Horizon conference in Atlanta on September 2, as part of a panel discussion on Socialism and Democracy.

As A Working Class-Led Global Movement Rises, Elites Are Panicking

September 11, 2023 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Atlanta, Dilemmas of Humanity, Socialism, Working Class

Around the world, a major organizing effort is underway, led by civil society and unions with the International People's Assembly, to build a working class movement for alternative systems that address the many crises we face. A series of regional conferences called the Dilemmas of Humanity are taking place in preparation for an international conference in South Africa in mid October. Clearing the FOG speaks with Eugene Puryear of BreakThrough News about the recent meeting in Atlanta, which is part of this process. Puryear speaks about the significance of the Stop Cop City movement and the necessity of leadership coming from frontline communities in the South. He also talks about the threat of nuclear war and the growing state repression of activists and journalists who dare to challenge the wealthy class.

Manifiesta To Kick Off A New Political Year For The Left In Europe

September 10, 2023 People's Dispatch. Organize! Belgium, Europe, Left Politics, Socialism, Worker Rights and Jobs

Left-wing forces in Belgium are unofficially kicking off a new political year as thousands of people pour into the coastal city of Ostend to participate in yet another edition of Manifiesta, the fest of solidarity, scheduled for the weekend of September 9-10. Launched for the first time in 2010, Manifiesta has evolved into a gathering of at least 15,000 people who convene not only for discussions and debates but also for bonding and evenings of music. The festival provides passersby with a glimpse of the diversity of left-wing movements. The program is shaped to address pressing topics such as workplace rights of health personnel and the climate crisis, while also emphasizing the significance of feminism, anti-imperialism, peace advocacy, and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and the Cuban Revolution.

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